Nutty,
I like your style. Sounds like a great property.
Wondering about the lake..in your area, does the fact that the other person that has the lake permitted for white suckers give them exclusive rights over fishing, stocking, and using the lake? A 50 acre lake with 20 foot depths would be an invaluable resource, but if he controls it exclusively, it would have little value.
Weighing in on your original question, as a person who has a working ranch in Texas and has built and is building several ponds, I wouldn't own large acreage without a dozer. In addition to pond building, the dozer has more uses than you can even imagine at this point in terms of property management. Personally, I have a small one, a Case 450C, and it is slow on pond building but very adept at general ranch work....land clearing, fence row clean-out, repairs of wash-outs, moving dead trees, laying a pad for a foundation, cleaning up livestock areas, getting your neighbors vehicles unstuck, getting your vehicles unstuck...etc., etc. Its better than an American Express card!
This would be my suggestion...after you get the property, try renting the Bobcat for a weekend or so and then rent a dozer for a separate weekend. Compare results and I think you will have your answer.
By the way, there is a great fellow who posts on here from your neck of the woods who recently built himself another pond with a rented dozer. I recommend you look up "Bz" e-mail address and/or PM him and he will be a great source of local information...plus he knows how to raise some beautiful HBG.
Best wishes on your purchase and subsequent journey with the property...it can be one of the greatest adventures of your life.
